Tag: 2-star

Attending concerts is therapeutic for me. When all goes well, I’m permanentlymotivated! Even when I must invent a new rating variable to express my contempt toward a performance, it’s usually worth the inconvenience of leaving my comfort zone to hang out with old friends, meet new acquaintances, or encounter interesting side stories. Seeing a leashed dog at a show was weird and that it wasn’t obviously a service or therapy dog was weirder still…

This review compilation format is working out better than I thought! Considering the sheer volume of photos I take at concerts (366 photos, totalling 1.02GB), it’s easy just to upload my favorite photos from each band to Twitter. Instagram has a terrible, mobile-only upload format, so I infrequently post there. It’s just too bad I took too many gambles on shows with only a few actually being worth attending. Guess you gotta give everything a go…

Just as my writing focus shifted away from thrifting, I’ve lost some interest in long-form nonfiction narration under the guise of concert reviews. They’ll still happen occasionally. Over the past month, I’ve written little more than thinking up an introduction to a hypothetical Metallica review: “Without exaggeration, I’ve listened to Symphony and Metallica while writing over 50% of the material I’ve uploaded here. Did they disappoint?” So let’s briefly cover this backlogged batch of 5 concert reviews.

We rushed through the last two episodes of this acceptable yet underwhelming first season of the Castlevania animated series. Still, the loose adaption of the videogames isn’t all that bad. It’s just there were some avoidable hindrances preventing the show from being truly great. The poorly-drawn foot pictured below summarizes the majority opinion, however, it’s not all pitfalls.

There’s plenty of undeserved hype surrounding the new Castlevania web series, based on the Castlevania videogame series. Even before the introduction concluded, we (Zombiepaper and Agent Bon) agreed the first episode could have been significantly better, and we have specific ideas on what failed. Even though the first season is only four episodes, with such poor storytelling, I know I’m going to have trouble tolerating those remaining three episodes. Maybe it’ll pick up? Could happen…

WoundedGiant are so captivating that I missed something exciting during their performance. Considering my bias for soon seeing them six times, they have the potential to become massively successful. Their musicianship is top notch! Distinctly vibrant melodies guide you through each song like a narrative told through doom metal instead of through letters and words. Other than distributing their music to wider audiences, two hindrances they could refine toward achieving bigger success might be–

(The) Melvins have the musicianship and showmanship that could have made them the biggest band in the world. If they cared. They would have been bigger than Nirvana if they removed anything weird about their slightly inaccessible brand of heavy rock. They have the relentless work ethic to compete with The Beatles. Would compromising their sound be worth the money and fame? Would they still be the same Melvins? Or would they fade from relevance?

Until GWAR signed onto the WarpedTour, I hadn’t been interested in attending the all-day pop rock and punk festival. Festivals are a convenient way to see twenty bands you’re halfway interested in seeing live along with two you want to see. It was a bummer finding out Anti-Flag and Suicide Machines were only for select dates. Was it worthwhile otherwise?
Sidenote: “Low priced” 32-ounce bottle of water for $5.50? More disgusting than GWAR! (Try $2.)